Saddam lawyer says client has been denied due process

[JURIST] Lawyers for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein [JURIST news archive] will argue that he has been denied due process of law when his trial begins next month [JURIST report] on charges stemming from the killings of 143 Shiite residents of the town of Dujail [JURIST report; NPR report]. London-based lawyer Abdel Haq Alani, part of Hussein's reformed defense team, said Hussein has been subject to legal bias and has not been told formally of the charges against him, charging that if the trial is held on the intended date of October 19 "the Americans will have a difficult time convincing anyone that this is a fair and just trial when no proper procedure has been followed. It would be a show trial." The accusations of lack of due process in Hussein's trial heightens the pressure to have an international trial, particularly in the face of widespread criticism that Iraqi leaders have already pronounced him guilty [JURIST report], possibly preventing Hussein from receiving a fair trial. Reuters has more.

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